Recording a DVD Without the Cheesy Menu

We shoot a lot of weddings, primarily on XDCAM disc. We have packages that include authored DVDs, then we have less expensive packages that don't include a chaptered DVD, very popular during the down economy. For the ones that don't include an authored DVD, we cut them on FC then dub a hi-res archive copy to XDCAM disc in real time. At the same time, we record a 16X9 SD DVD using a desktop DVD player/recorder. Up to this point it’s a very efficient workflow.

Here's where it gets a little less efficient. We can't just give the client the dubbed DVD because it has an unprofessional looking menu at the beginning that the DVD recorder automatically puts on there. So we quickly load it to a PC and "demux" it, essentially removing the cheap menu and creating another DVD. I'm not the one who does that but I think it's a quick process to load it to the PC, then the PC takes about ten mins to do it. It just seems like an archaic, inefficient process to have to make this additional DVD.

Does anyone have an idea for removing this step? Ie is there a desktop 16X9 SD DVD player/recorder that will record without the cheap menu at the beginning? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

I'd ask dealers- chances are one exists but typically it's much easier to control when you do this from your desktop computer... For example you could easily use the Share tool or Compressor/DVDSP or even iMovie to quickly author a DVD from your ingests in FCP. And with proper matching timecode to boot...

I have a Panasonic DVD recorder at work. In the menu that has the FINALISE function, there is an option to "Autoplay". The cheesy menu is still there in the background (I think) but when they put the disc in, they never get to see it.

For some things, I use Toast to create an Autoplay DVD (sans menu) from a MOV exported from FCP.

We have a couple different models of the Panasonic DVD recorders, and one of them offers a "first play" autoplay feature that lets you make a DVD without the canned menu. I'm not in the shop right now but next time I am, I'll write down a model number for you.

I bought one and I'm trying to remember why it didn't work, but it didn't. When we dub to 16X9 SD DVD, we do it by firewire from an XDCAM deck, the PDW-F70. I'm pretty sure the Panasonic DMR firewire wouldn't communicate with the PDW-F70 firewire. I tried everything and got the manufacturer on the phone, and she eventually concluded that it wasn't compatible with the PDW-F70.